TRP: Jasper, Morgan, and Roddy (Kebabs)
Izzy: The road between Skyport and Moorland, Night 213. Morgan turned her back on Goro and Larkin. They probably had some shit to talk about, anyway -- and she didn't much care to sit there and let the little Basha sneer at her over being powerless. Sore winners, honestly. Yeah, she told herself that was it, not the fucking stiletto precision Larkin had deployed into the specific thing that was freaking her out right now. She ran it over in her head again -- Goro and Jasper were safe, Roddy was all right, Raef seemed amicable enough, Haeth she didn't have a clue about, Larkin definitely wanted her punished. There was a hierarchy here. She moved over to Jasper, who looked to have dozed off on Roddy's shoulder. Fucking precious, if she were being honest. And convenient, that the other two semi-trustworthy ones were together. She sat down on the other side of Jasper, raising a hand at Roddy in greeting and miming that she would gently offload Jasper onto her own shoulder, if he liked. Abby: ''' Freaking Jasper. Always up to something. Dozing off and drooling on Roddy's shoulder this time. Roddy reached over and pulled the blanket he'd thrown over her back up over her shoulder. Couldn't even do the decency of lying down and passing out, nooooo. He glanced up when he saw Morgan Wyn settling down on Jasper's other side. Looked between the two, and then shook his head. "I got it. She might crush you, I'm pretty hard to crush," he said. And the blanket slipped again. "Though if you could take care of that-" he asked, gesturing at it. '''Izzy: She chuckled. This guy was great. Maybe it was just because he seemed so fucking harmless. If he stabbed her, he'd probably apologize for it with a big wince. She should probably stop thinking of people in terms of how they'd stab her. Or maybe not. You never knew. "You got it," she said, and pulled the blanket around Jasper more securely, tucking it in. "I can grab you some food if you want, you being all indisposed under there -- looks like there kebabs to be had." She nodded over to the fire. Abby: ''' "Oh-- thank you," Roddy said, grinning. Yeah. Wyn was all right, once she switched sides. "I'd appreciate it. Jasper decided she needed to go to sleep before I got a chance to eat," he grumbled. Some of her hair was starting to fall in her face- and Roddy's mouth. He tucked it back, wishing he had a hair tie or something to keep it back. '''Izzy: "Sure thing." She gave the two of them an amused look and stood again, slipping behind them to carefully pull Jasper's hair back, shifting her head a little and making her grumble in her sleep, but not wake up. Morgan tucked it into a loose bun that should pretty much keep it from attacking Roddy's face. "Fuckin' inconsiderate, this one, eh?" she commented, a little more fondly than she'd meant to, and quickly covered with, "Oh, uh, any preference on veggie or meat kebabs? The fuck do tortles eat?" Abby: ''' Roddy grinned. "How come you're asking me?" he joked. "Either's good. Dad's the vegetarian, I eat just about anything." '''Izzy: "You and me fuckin' both, man." Made things easier. She collected a couple skewers that had both on them and passed one to Roddy before settling back down. This was all right. Fuckin' ... pals, like Jasper had said. What would pals do? Small talk. She could ask him why his dad was a vegetarian, but she was decently sure she had that one figured -- ship lost at sea turns up bloody and with only two survivors, you don't question what happened to the rest. People have to eat. Made her a bit queasy too, but goddamn, did she love a good rare steak. "You know, there's tortles around Moorland," she commented. "I always just left them alone -- reclusive bunch. You might check'em out though." Abby: ''' Roddy had just started to bite into his kebab and promptly started choking on it. '''Izzy: "Ah, fuck, shit." She hastily pounded on the back of his shell. Was that what you did for a massive choking turtle? Who fuckin' knew. (Jasper slept on.) Abby: ''' "M'fine! I'm fine!" Roddy cried, waving the hand not attached to the shoulder weighed down by sleepy sneaky barbarian. A half-chewed chunk of meat came flying out of his mouth. Now that was ew. "Breathing now, I'm good!" '''Izzy: "Oof. Fuck." God, her night so far had been making Goro cry and choking Roddy. Maybe she ought to just go curl up somewhere by herself. "Man, just forget I said anything. My bad." Abby: ''' "No no!" Roddy looked up, flapping his free hand frantically (still). "You said there were tortles in Moorland?!" '''Izzy: "Oh, not in -- around. In the swamps and such. You ever been to Moorland?" Abby: ''' Roddy shook his head slowly. "Not that I remember... I think I remember hearing about my circus getting in trouble in Moorland. But that was before my time... or well, right around then." Huh. He'd never put those things together till now. Moorland. Was that where he was from? Was Roddy, unwittingly, headed home? The idea made him nervous. '''Izzy: "Huh." She eyed him. That circus of his had been hard to track -- by design, she figured. Shady bunch. She had no real idea where all they had been. "Well, uh. Anyway, the tortles all sort of live out by themselves, in the swamps outside the city wall. They're not much of a friendly bunch," she commented, "unlike yourself." They hadn't been of any use or interest to her -- kind of like wood elves, but smaller and less organized, still -- but she didn't think reminding Roddy of her illustrious career as a conquerer was the best move. She was still in some sort of a problem-solving mood, though, coming off talking to Goro about his family. "They wouldn't really have shit to do with me, but I can show you out to them if you wanna ... I don't know, look for your family?" she offered, then hastily appended, "They don't seem to be real family-focused, though -- I mean, don't get your hopes up or anything." Abby: ''' "Oh," Roddy said quietly. He shifted so he was hugging Jasper, tucking her head under his chin. What did he want. His mind was whirling. He was so used to- being the tortle. Of course there were others out there but he'd only rarely run into one and when he had, he barely said two words to them. It was weirdly intimidating. "My parents are gone," he said slowly, staring off at the woods above Wyn's head. Didn't mean he didn't have- aunts or uncles, cousins even but- "I wouldn't know where to start. I don't-- I don't remember my-- I don't remember what my name was before 'Roddy' and I know that's not a tortle name. I don't- remember my parents names. Don't have any leads to go on." So it'd be best to just forget about it. Yeah. Just take care of business and move on. '''Izzy: Morgan winced. If she still had her guild, if she'd known earlier, she could've ... But she didn't. Nothing to offer him. She pulled another kebab off the fire and held it out to him. "Hey, sorry I brought it up." Abby: ''' Roddy accepted it automatically, glancing back at Wyn. "No-- no don't be sorry. I-- appreciate it? I'm just. I'm weird about... the tortle thing sometimes," he said, half shrugging. "It's uh, it's a good thing I got warned though. Won't freak out so much if we see one around. So. Thanks for that, at least," he said, giving a vague attempt at a smile. '''Izzy: She laughed weakly. She was starting to feel pretty shitty about how Blue had recruited him, using Amren against him -- she'd signed off on it to test him and his loyalties, but he was a fuckin' person to her, now, and shit. She glanced around the fire. Fucking bullshit, people being people again. "Well, hey, man, from what I know tortles aren't real big on families, so --" she gestured at the Runners -- "I guess you got a pretty good deal." She cut her eyes over at Larkin hugging Goro, and let them fall on Jasper snoozing against Roddy. Abby: ''' "Yeah," Roddy perked up a little. "I do have a good deal," he said, glancing around and smiling slightly at the assorted bunch. Made him feel all warm inside. "Hey do you know how it is? When you got a real bad deal, but then you get a better one later, and y'know, you get used to it, and all settled and happy, but every now and then it kinda hits you, just how good it is now?" Roddy shifted Jasper so he was a bit more comfortable, and hopefully where she wouldn't wake up with a crick in her neck. '''Izzy: "I ... I don't." She gave him a smile, trying, and patted his arm and looked back to the fire. God, that was sweet. "Sounds great, though. I'm glad for you." Mask, she hoped the Queen didn't just eat all of these fuckers. Abby: ''' "Yeah. I think you will though. If... we manage to save you from the Queen that is." Well now Roddy was making himself sad. What if they weren't able to save her and Wyn just... died. "Are you weird about hugs?" Roddy asked suddenly. "I want to hug you but some people are weird about it." '''Izzy: "Uh. It's, uh, nice of you to ask first," she stalled, startled and not sure how to respond. Was she weird about hugs? Was it weird to not like people to touch you when you figured there was always a chance of them shanking you when they did it? Eh ... it'd be a pretty poor tactical move for Roddy to shank her now. They all knew about the splitting thing. It was probably all right. "Sure, I guess that'd be fine. Just a little bit." Just in case he touched her back the wrong way, or something. She lifted her around to try to put it around him sideways, adding, "God, you are a difficult size for hugging, huh." Abby: ''' "I've heard that," he commented. She seemed a little skittish so he kept it light, around her shoulders, gave a light squeeze. "Like hugging people though. Usually seems to help. Unless their prickly criminal types." '''Izzy: She patted his shell a little, and wondered if he could feel that. Maybe just the vibrations? Weird. Tortles, man. And kenku. The fuck were they. "Well, I'm a prickly criminal type, and I think you're a sweet fuckin' guy." May as well just say shit, at this point. It didn't matter anymore. Her fingers grazed across an odd disfigurement on his shell, and she added, "Hey, is this a scar? Twins. I've got one on my back too." Abby: ''' Roddy grinned. Yeah, Wyn- Morgan?- was really cool now that she switched sides. "Yep," he said, popping the p. "Me and Goro fought an aboleth and I got really smashed into the wall. It really hurt. Probably would have died if, y'know, cleric hadn't been right there..." he trailed off. Not a good thought. Happy ending but not a good story. '''Izzy: "Ooh, aboleth. That's nasty business. Tough guys, eh?" She grinned. This'd be a moment for commenting on how he was nice and strong, but she had the gist that Roddy didn't care for being hit on. Normally that'd be a sign for her to switch to some other ingratiating tactic, but right now she just didn't want to make him upset or uncomfortable. Using her powers for good, and shit. Or at least for ... neutral. Coyote: Jasper grumbled, rousing. She cracked her eyes open. Ah, Roddy. She liked Roddy. She shifted a little closer. Oh. And Wyn. God, Jasper liked Wyn. Jasper swatted her arm at Wyn, trying to drag her into the cuddle puddle. "Hey, Red," Jasper muttered affectionately. "C'mere." Abby: ''' "Well good evening sleeping beauty, finally finish drooling on my shoulder?" Roddy said, shifting to allow for an easier group hug. '''Izzy: Morgan snorted and hesitantly moved in to let this whole group hug thing happen. "Nice nap, punk?" Coyote: "No," Jasper informed Roddy. "I am not." She kissed Wyn's shoulder. "And yeah, old lady, I did. Had an even nicer time waking up, though, and findin' you here." She winked at Wyn and nudged her. Abby: ''' "Can you not flirt when we're all huddled up like this. I feel like I'm about to get involved in a threesome. No thanks." '''Izzy: She laughed. "All right, all right, I got you." She remembered him acting the same way when Goro had flirted with her. Yep, right call on not hitting on him. She snagged a kebab off the fire and offered it to Jasper. "Here, keep your mouth occupied with something else." Coyote: "I'll let you keep my mouth occupied with something el--" Izzy: Morgan elbowed her. Abby: ''' "Thank you Morgan," Roddy said, polite and formal. Then to their other companion: "Jasper I swear I will use mage hand to shove ice down your back. Try me." '''Coyote: Jasper snickered. She huddled down a little closer, enjoying the warmth.' '''This was good. This was nice. She wished Azriel was here, though. She'd had to sneak out quietly when she'd left to avoid tipping him off that she was going on a suicide mission against a hydra. "If we all die, I want you to know you're all my best friends," Jasper said, apropos of nothing. '''Izzy:' Morgan didn't have the heart to tell her that was ridiculous. Fuck, actually, some of these people were the closest thing she had to friends just now, outside of a few people in her guild she thought she might be able to count on, still. That kind of automatically made them her best friends. Goro'd had a point about that. So she petted Jasper's hair, and nudged Roddy companionably, and said. "Yeah, yeah. Me too, or whatever, I guess." Abby: ''' "Why are you so morbid Jasper," Roddy grumbled, but he squeezed her a little tighter anyway. "We're not all gonna die. Didn't the others tell you about Diva? We killed her good. And Mishka and Joan when they were hosted. Took down Dad when he was possessed. We're gonna fight a god too. And-" he cut himself off. No, not talking about the dragon right now. "We're awesome adventures and we're all gonna survive," he said firmly. "But y'know. Yeah you're one of my best friends too." '''Izzy: END Title: Kebabs. Summary: Red Wyn joins Roddy and Jasper by the fire on the way to Moorland. She offers Roddy a hand with finding the tortles outside the city, and bonding is had. Category:Text Roleplay